The second leg of the IPL 2021 will start from September 19 in UAE and the opener of the tournament will be played between Rohit Sharma led Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings led by MS Dhoni. Many foreign players will also be joining their teams including Jimmy Neesham who is a part of Mumbai Indians. In the first part of the IPL 2021, Neesham played only one match which was against CSK and in that game, he failed with both bat and ball as he got out on the very first ball that he played and while bowling, he conceded 26 runs in 2 overs and went wicket-less.
The skipper of the Kiwi team, Kane Williamson and some other senior players such as Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Siefert, Jimmy Neesham and Mitchel Santner won’t be a part of the New Zealand playing squad which will be visiting Pakistan as they have some T20 commitments to fulfill and this has certainly not gone well with many Pakistani cricket fans. Not only the Pak cricket fans but some former Pakistani cricketers have also expressed their displeasure over the fact that these players preferred franchise or club cricket over national duty.
Recently a Pakistani fan slammed Jimmy Neesham on the micro-blogging site Twitter for skipping national duties for money.
The tweet read, “Shame on you. Skipped national duties for Money.”
Shame on you. Skipped national duties for Money.
— Mohammad TALHA 🇵🇸 🇵🇰 (@MTalhaTanveer) September 1, 2021
The Kiwi cricketer received many messages in this regard and he chose to clear his stand by responding on this tweet. Neesham writes that it is because of the New Zealand Cricket Player Welfare Policy that first choice players are not going on this tour. Moreover, he also stated that he requested the board to make an exemption in his case but the request was denied by them.
Jimmy tweeted, “I’m getting a lot of messages like this so I want to be crystal clear. It is an NZ Cricket player welfare policy that first choice players aren’t on this tour. I made a request for an exemption but that request was denied.”
I’m getting a lot of messages like this so I want to be crystal clear.
It is an NZ Cricket player welfare policy that first choice players aren’t on this tour. I made a request for an exemption but that request was denied. https://t.co/m3CglBWFYF
— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) September 1, 2021
Jimmy Neesham will definitely like to perform better in the second leg of the IPL 2021. The tournament has become more important for the players because the T20 World Cup will be taking place just after the IPL 2021 only so it is a good chance for them to prepare themselves for the World Cup.